Tag Archives: language

Sloganeering: Fake Language Is the Problem–Not Fake News

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Boz

I have not posted anything on my blog since September 21–over a month ago, my longest dry spell since I began it in May of 2016. Significantly, this hiatus coincides quite neatly with the weeks that have elapsed since the … Continue reading →

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Grammar, Meet God

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Boz

Although I care deeply about language and am passionately interested in its origins and characteristics, I have no claims as a linguist. Therefore, what follows comes more from my heart than my head–mostly emotion tempered with a bit of knowledge … Continue reading →

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The English Major and Ford Madox Ford: A Tale of Passion

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Boz

                  The Chemistry Major At this late date, newly minted Medicare card tucked safely in my wallet, I suppose it’s time to admit, mostly to myself, that I have always been what … Continue reading →

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Among: Advent Word 14

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Boz

Among all the Advent words for this year, only today’s is a preposition. The remainder of the list comprises seven nouns and fourteen verbs (including, of course, some crossovers). These are the  draft horses of the language–the persons, places and … Continue reading →

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Simplify: Advent Word 4

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Boz

The things we want and need are plain and true: To live in peace in a safe, warm home; to eat soup and bread and drink wine; to sleep curled in the arms of one we love; to speak words … Continue reading →

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Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Boz

I am not certain I ever heard the name Harvey Weinstein before October 5, when The New York Times published its initial exposé of sexual-misconduct allegations and hush-money payoffs. Nor have I followed the increasing media firestorm with any interest though the … Continue reading →

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Naming Evil

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Boz

I write today in the bloody wake of the most recent in an increasingly frequent series of mass killings–this time, the deaths of 58 country music fans at the hands of a gunman poised 32 floors above the concert venue … Continue reading →

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Something Old

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Boz

I still have the tattered Golden Book of Nursery Tales (1948) and Mother Goose Book of Nursery Rhymes (1953) presented to me at birth. At a time in my life when preserving the past evidently mattered less to me, I removed the … Continue reading →

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Charlottesville, Boston, Berkeley and the Desecration of the First Amendment

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Boz

August 19, 2017 Speaking my mind today may be impolitic. However, because what I fear most is the silence following the premature death of the First Amendment, speak I must. I am reminded of Paul’s recital of his unblemished pedigree: … Continue reading →

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I Never Saw a Moor; I Never Saw the Sea

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Boz

              I never even had a passport. But I know the heather because I have walked the moonlit moors with Catherine and Heathcliff. I know the roiling sea because I sailed on the Pequod and clung … Continue reading →

Posted in books, education, literature | Tagged , , | 2 Comments